His Imaginary Friends
by What'dIMiss
Summary: A new kid, Mike, moves across the street from Zoey. They get along well, and play together. What she doesn't know is that he has multiple personalities. She just thinks he's pretending when he acts like an explorer, an Olympic gymnast, or an old man. She thinks she finally has a friend... AU. They are both five. Might be Zoke later on(time jumps)IDK. Need a cover image.
1. Mike

**A/N: I DONT NEED ANYMORE MULTI-CHAPS! HELP!**

 **Popped into my mind the other day. Probly has been done before, but whateva. Each chapter will have a different of Mike's personalities appear.**

 **Enjoy!**

Five-year-old Zoey ran out the front door of her family's house. This was her normal hour to play outside in her yard before her mother brought her inside to eat lunch. Her mom was in the kitchen keeping an eye on her.

Zoey had various things outside to play with, and always played by herself. She was an only child, and not the greatest at making friends in the neighborhood. The only kid around lived up a few houses and stole Zoey's things all the time and pulled her hair. His name was Scott.

Today, as Zoey was painting a picture at a small plastic table, she noticed a big truck stop in front of the house across the street. It said 'Muskoka Moving Service' on the side. A small sedan pulled up into the house after it. A kid Zoey's age and a woman got out of the car.

The kid was a boy. He was wearing a blue shirt with two masks on it; one was happy, one was sad. He was also wearing a pair of blue shorts and grey sneakers. He had naturally tan skin, happy brown eyes, and hair that spiked up everywhere, like a porcupine. Zoey observed all this as he found her with his eyes and waved.

She timidly waved back, smiling. He looked pretty friendly. Maybe their moms could introduce them.

The boy walked over to the sidewalk on the edge of the road that separated their two houses. "Hi!" he said.

Zoey said nothing. What if he ended up being mean, like Scott? Scott had pretended to be nice to Zoey before breaking her favorite paintbrush. She'd gone home crying.

"Mike! What are you doing? Get away from the road!" The kid's mom called out.

"Sorry, Mom, but I see a girl across the street, and I was saying hi," Mike called back.

"You can say hi to the neighbors later, honey. Now Mom needs you over here."

Mike nodded at her before turning back and waving, again, at Zoey. "See you later!" He ran quickly back to his mom.

Zoey cracked a smile as she returned to her painting. Mike had seemed nice. She wondered what those masks on his t-shirt meant.

 **Please review!**


	2. Chester

**A/N: Next chapter!**

 **Enjoy!**

A week passed. Mike and his mom finished getting all their things together inside their new house. His mom and Zoey's had officially met. Zoey's mom had made cookies for them, as a welcome-to-the-neighborhood gift. She brought Zoey along with her. Zoey hid behind her mother.

"Mike should come over sometime! It's been forever since Zoey had a friend to play with," Zoey's mom changed the topic of their conversation.

Mike's mother's faced went from smiling to a fearfully concerned frown. "Oh! Well, I suppose if you're keeping an eye on them..." Mike's mother looked wary. She let her gaze slide to Mike, who was sitting on the floor drawing, a smile on his face.

Zoey slowly walked around the adults, and went over to Mike. "Hi," she said quietly. "What are you drawing?"

"Hm?" Mike looked up at Zoey. He recognized her and smiled. "Hi!" he returned the greeting. "I'm drawing my friends." He held up his paper. On it were five people. The one on the far left was hunched over and only had one eye. Next to them was someone wearing a hat and smirking. One had red lips and twinkly eyes, and was posing like they were about to lift off the ground. One wasn't wearing a shirt, and was flexing his arms and smiling. The one on the end was a bit separate from the others. They had their arms crossed and were frowning, with their hair over most of their face, showing only one eye. All five of them resembled Mike.

"Are those people real? They all look like you." Zoey didn't want to sound mean, but having five friends look exactly like you? That was a bit hard to believe.

"They are to me," Mike replied, still smiling.

Zoey nodded. She didn't want to pry too much about his imaginary friends. "What are their names?"

"Chester, Manitoba, Svetlana, Vito, and Mal," he recited their names, pointing to each one in turn.

"Oh, okay." _Those are weird names_ , Zoey thought. "You're good at art."

Mike blushed. "Thanks. I did it a lot at my old house."

"Ok." She didn't know what else to say.

"Do you wanna draw?" Mike asked. "I have some more things over here. We could draw together."

"Oh, sure! If that's okay with you, and your mom and everything..." Zoey blushed.

Mike smiled at her, stood up and walked over to his mom. He pulled on her pants leg. "Mom, can Zoey draw with me?"

His mother looked down at him. She smiled. "I guess she can."

Mike's face lit up as he walked back over to Zoey. "She said yes."

Zoey smiled. Mike handed her a blank piece of paper and a red crayon. She sat down next to him and began to draw. Mike also got a fresh piece of paper and started a new picture.

Halfway through, Mike let out a sigh of frustration. "Why can't I ever get this part right?!"

"What part?" Zoey asked, looking up from the flower she was drawing.

"I can never get the head to look right on the body. I'll never get it, I keep trying and I always mess up. It's so annoying-" Mike took a deep breath in and his eyes bugged out. When he regained his composure, one of his eyes was closed and his lips were curled in a bit. "Bah! Back in my day, we didn't have fancy wax things to color with or sheets of white to draw on! We had to use twigs in the dirt! And we could erase our mistakes if we felt like it!" His voice sounded like it belonged to an old man.

Zoey raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay, Mike?"

"Mike? The name's Chester, young lady."

"Oh." He must've been pretending to be one of his 'friends' to be funny. That's what Zoey thought, so out of politeness she laughed awkwardly.

"Laughing at the elderly, are ya?" 'Chester' asked, offended.

Zoey shut her mouth and shook her head. "No. I thought you were trying to be funny."

"I lost my sense of humor years ago." 'Chester' suddenly took a deep breath, his eyes bugged out, his other eye opened and his lips returned to normal.

Mike blinked. "What just happened?" He sounded confused.

"Chester decided to say hi."

"Oh. Was he okay? Did he say anything weird?" Mike asked her.

"No, he just thinks using crayons is fancy."

"I already knew that. Let's just keep drawing." Mike went back to focusing on his picture.

Zoey was a bit confused. It was Mike playing a character, wasn't it?

"Mike, I think Zoey should be going now." Mike's mother had seen what happened and looked worried.

"They look like they're having fun. She can stay for now, I'll pick her up in an hour," Zoey's mom said assuringly.

"Ok..." Mike's mom sighed, defeated.

"I'll come back later, ok, Zoey?"

Zoey nodded to her mom.

An hour passed. Chester came back every once in a while, complaining about the paper crinkling or the crayons breaking. Zoey laughed every time, but was still a bit confused.

"Bye, Zoey!" Mike waved enthusiastically to her when her mom came to take her back across the street.

"Bye, Mike," she waved back.

"Did you have fun?" her mom later asked.

"Yeah, I guess I did."

 **Review please!**


	3. Svetlana

**A/N: Next chapter.**

 **The pronouns referring to Mike/Svetlana kind of go all over the place.**

 **Enjoy!**

One day later that week, Zoey was outside as usual. She wasn't drawing, just staring up at the clouds, a smile on her face.

"Yes! Svetlana is the best gymnast in the world!" She heard a voice talking in a weird accent, coming from across the street. Zoey sat up and saw Mike doing a handstand on a plastic balance beam in his yard. Except his lips were red and fuller than before, and his eyes were twinkling. His voice was more female.

Zoey stood up, brushed her red dress down, and, looking both ways before hand like her mom taught her to, made her way across the street. "Mike? What are you doing?" she asked.

Mike looked at Zoey and smiled. "Oh, hello!" He got down from his handstand gracefully, pushing off of the balance beam, flipping in midair, and landing next to Zoey on his feet. "Svetlana has heard the nice things about you! You are Zoey? From across the street?"

"Um, yeah, that's me." Zoey figured this was another character, apparently a girl from somewhere else.

"Svetlana adores your outfit! So pretty!" Mike/Svetlana looked at her red dress.

"Thanks." Zoey blushed at the complement.

"Although Svetlana does not think it is good for gymnastics practice." Svetlana was clad in grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt with five intertwined rings in different colors on the front. "Mike has better clothing for this." She then looked at Zoey. "Do you want to do the gymnastics with Svetlana? She is very good, the best!" She smiled pridefully.

"Um, can I ask my mom first if it's okay with her? I don't like getting in trouble."

"Of course, Svetlana can wait." She went back to doing all sorts of things on the balance beam, flipping over it and landing on her feet.

Zoey took her time getting across the street again, and this time she went back into her house.

She went to her bedroom and looked through it to find something that would work. She did like the idea of learning gymnastics. It looked like fun. She was ignoring the fact that it was Mike's character who would be showing her how.

She ended up in a pair of army green shorts that were not exactly athletic, and a red t-shirt. She was about to leave again when her mom asked from the kitchen, "Zoey? Is that you?"

"Yes, Mom, I'm gonna go over to Mike's house."

"Wearing that? Weren't you in a dress earlier?"

"They said they'd teach me gymnastics..." Zoey decided to refer to Mike/Svetlana as they since he was two people at once. At least, that's what she thought.

"But he's only five. How could he possibly know gymnastics at such a young age?"

Zoey shrugged and left to go back across the street.

Svetlana was now doing some things on a small set of monkey bars. It wasn't very high off the ground, but she didn't seem to care. She was doing another handstand, this time from the top of the bars.

"I'm back, Svetlana." Zoey played along with the character.

"Wonderful!" Svetlana climbed down and smiled at Zoey. "Let's see what you can do."

Svetlana had her try a few basic things, like a cartwheel followed by a handstand. Zoey stumbled at first, but she got the hang of it.

"You did good!" Svetlana complemented. "Now, watch Svetlana."

Zoey nodded and took a seat in the grass.

Svetlana started on the edge of the lawn where the balance beam was, their five year old body looking small. She cartwheeled onto the beam, landing square on her feet. She caught her breath before flipping backwards back onto the beam. She cartwheeled off and went to the bars. She climbed up. There was a decent amount of space between each bar, and flipped around so she was on top in a handstand position again. She bent her legs and went down, flipping herself as she did so. She ended up dropping to the ground onto her feet again, holding her arms up and smiling.

Zoey clapped. "That was really good," she said politely.

"Yes, Svetlana enjoys the complements you give her."

"Um...I'm gonna go home now." Zoey began to leave, turning away from Svetlana and beginning to look across the street for cars.

She heard a gasp behind her. She turned. Svetlana was rubbing her head. "What...what happened?" Mike was back to himself. He looked at her. "Zoey? Why are you here?"

"Svetlana showed me her skills. She's good."

"Oh! She did? No wonder my arms are sore..." He touched his arm and winced.

"I should go..." Zoey went across the street, looking again beforehand.

Mike sighed before go big inside to lay down on the couch. His arms hurt a lot.

His mother looked at him with concern as he fell asleep and began mumbling in different voices.

 **Please review!**


	4. Vito

**A/N: Finally another chapter!**

 **Thank you Totaldramafan04 for reviewing the last chapter. I decided not to add in Anne Maria for Vito's entrance, but I did introduce Scott more.**

 **Enjoy!**

A couple weeks later, Zoey was in her house staring out the window. It was drizzling, but the sky was beginning to clear. Once the rain stopped, she saw Mike step outside his house. His hair was slicked back, and...he wasn't wearing a shirt? He was sporting six-pack abs and visible muscles on his arms. He had a necklace around his neck. He wore blue sweatpants and the same grey sneakers he always did. He began to walk down the street. Toward where Zoey knew Scott lived.

Zoey quickly went to put on her red rain boots and grab her jacket before leaving the house, not thinking to tell her mother, and follow Mike. "Hey, Mike!" she called out to him.

Mike looked at her briefly, and sent her an unimpressed frown before continuing, not replying back. He walked all the way up to Scott's house.

Scott was sitting on a log in the front yard of his dinghy house, trying to whittle a stick to no avail. His orange hair was cut short. His t-shirt had been white at some point, but it was now covered in dirt and other unidentifiable substances, and it was too big. He also had dirt on his face. He looked up when Mike approached his house. He spotted Zoey across the street and sneered at her.

"Ey, what're you looking at?" Mike's voice was strange. It sounded foreign, like Svetlana's, but not the same.

"That weird girl Zoey, behind you." Scott pointed at her.

Mike turned around and frowned at Zoey. "Ain't that Mike's neighbor? Dang, Redhead's not much to look at." He shook his head before looking back at Scott. "Ey, who are you?"

"Scott. Who are _you_?"

"I'm the Vito." Vito crossed his arms.

"Huh. You live around here, _Vito_?"

"Oh yeah, Mike's been around for a while." Vito shut his mouth just after he said it.

"Who's Mike?"

"No one, yo."

Scott narrowed his eyes at him. "I don't think we'll be friends."

"Oh yeah? How do you know?"

"I don't hang out with weirdos."

Vito grabbed him by the shirt. "Mike is not a weirdo. He's not as cool or hot as me, but he's alright." He shoved him back. "Don't talk trash 'bout him. Got it?"

Scott fell onto his back. "Ow! I'm telling my Pappy! He'll teach you!" He scrambled up and ran into his house. The door nearly broke as he shut it behind him.

"Not man enough to fight back?" Vito laughed.

Zoey finally decided to cross the street. She tapped Vito on the shoulder. "Why'd you push Scott, Mike? He didn't do anything to you."

Vito turned around and faced her. He seemed so much taller to her for some reason. "Ey, nobody tells me what to do, 'specially not you, Pasty. And the name's Vito." He began to walk back towards Mike's house.

Zoey frowned and felt a few tears coming to her eyes. That was so mean of him. Why would Mike say that to her, even in character? She didn't understand.

She went back across the street and walked home. She definitely didn't like Vito.

 **I made Vito a bit protective of Mike. At such a young age, I think it makes more sense for his character.**

 **Please review, and see you next time!**


	5. Manitoba Smith

**A/N: Next chapter. Sorry for the long wait(blame school).**

 **thanks to Totaldramafan04 for reviewing the last chapter.**

 **enjoy!**

It was a sunny day. Zoey was playing in her yard, like always. She heard yet another new voice across the street. "Can't be too careful going out there. Might be some rattlers waitin' to chomp me or some dingo who thinks he's the boss! Ha!" She saw Mike putting things into a bright orange backpack. He was wearing a fedora on his head, and spoke with yet another different accent. "I wonder which character this is..." she muttered to herself.

Mike caught ear of that and looked across the street. He smirked at her and tipped his hat. "G'day, Sheila! Lovely weather for a good hiking trip, ain't it?" He laughed.

"You heard me?" Zoey asked, not believing it.

"O' course, I got great hearing on me," Mike said. "What's yer name, Sheila?"

"Um, Zoey," she said. "And you are...?"

"'Name's Manitoba Smith," he introduced himself. ""Hey, d'you want to come with me?"

"Oh, uh, sure! Just lemme get changed..." Zoey ran into her house. She put on a red t-shirt and green shorts that had pockets. She had gone on a few hikes with her mom before.

When she came back, Manitoba was decked out. He wore a light brown loose polo shirt with the long sleeves rolled up, blue cargo pants, hiking boots and his fedora. His backpack was now on his back. "Let's go!" He began to walk down the street.

Zoey followed behind him.

They walked for a while, eventually leaving the neighborhood and going into a forest without any marked trails. "Do you know where you're going?" Zoey asked, nervous. It looked to be getting dark.

"'O course I do! I've walked out here many times," Manitoba replied as he stopped at a little clearing and took his pack off. He began to fish for something inside.

"Are we going back soon? This forest is creeping me out..." Zoey turned her head and could've sworn she saw something moving.

"No, we'll camp here and continue tomorrow! Here, help me with the tent," and Manitoba pulled out a small green tent in a round bag inside his backpack.

Zoey was staring at him. They were going to camp in the woods by themselves? Still, she helped him set up camp.

Manitoba was able to make a small fire, so they were warm. Zoey still was creeped out by the forest and how noisy it was. Leaves rustling in the wind, creatures moving about in the darkness.

"So, you camp often, Miss?" Manitoba asked her curiously.

"No, my mom says it's dangerous." Zoey shook her head.

"Well o' course it's got danger! That's what's fun about it, see. Keep ya on your toes, yeah?" Manitoba was smiling, showing the gap in his front teeth and leaning towards Zoey.

"Yeah..." Zoey stood up. "I want to go home. Can we go home?"

Manitoba looked hurt. "Why d'you wanna leave? Ain't this something else?"

"Yeah, that's why I want to go home. It's not you, it's me."

Manitoba nodded in understanding. "It ain't fun for me if you go, so I won't make you stay. Come on, I'll take ya home, Sheila." He began to pack up the campsite and pulled out a flashlight. Once that was done he slung his backpack on his bag and offered Zoey his hand. "Let's get ya home."

Zoey accepted his hand and he led them out of the woods, back to their street. It was the dead of night.

They split up once they got to the part of the street with their houses, the light of street lamps the only thing showing them the way. Manitoba kissed the top of Zoey's hand. "See ya around, beauty." He smiled, winked at her and walked back to their house, closing the door behind him.

Zoey did the same. Her mother was asleep on the couch, no doubt worried sick about her. She went up to her room and quickly fell asleep.

 **Please review, see you next chapter!:)**


	6. Malevolent One, The

**A/N: This is a two parter scene. It got dark and then I wanted to add something else, so yeah it's now two parts.**

 **Do enjoy.**

Zoey didn't know how it happened, it was all so sudden.

First she was playing with Mike in his yard. It was just Mike. Not a character or anything else, much to her relief.

Suddenly he was pushing her to the ground and chuckling evilly to himself, staring down at her. His hair had fallen down over his left eye and there were thick dark circles under his eyes. He folded his arms as Zoey struggled to get up, tears in her eyes, scrapes on her arms, knees and palms, and dirt on her face. "Why did you do that, Mike? We were having fun!" she asked him, confused and hurt.

'Mike' laughed. "This is _much_ more entertaining, watching you cry a river of tears at my feet." He stepped on her ankle, as her foot was facing the ground, causing it to contort into an unnatural position.

Zoey screamed in pain. Her tears were not a river, more of a waterfall. "Stop it! _Stop_!" She was choking out the words.

"I will when I'm satisfied, you silly little girl."

 _I don't understand. If this is a character, then why is he hurting me?_ Zoey wondered. _And why won't he stop?_

Zoey tried to stand up, but she collapsed onto the ground again, her ankle unable to hold her.

"I'd love to help you walk, but I'm afraid I have some business to attend to elsewhere. Goodbye." He walked up to his house while whistling an unsettling tune Zoey was unfamiliar with, shutting the door behind him with a smirk.

Zoey tried to stand again. She balanced on her good foot and limped to the sidewalk, wincing every time her bad ankle felt the touch of grass or pavement. She leaned on a streetlamp, looked both ways and began to limp across the road to her house.

A green car, dented with chipped paint, came speeding down the street towards her. She saw it and her eyes widened. She tried to hurry out of the way but her ankle cracked and she toppled onto the road. The car braked dramatically but it would not stop soon enough.

.

.

.

Next thing she knew she was sprawled on the sidewalk, bleeding a little down her face and arms. She heard ambulance sirens in the distance. She sat up painfully and looked. There was Mike, face down in front of where the car had stopped. A man had come out of the car, and his eyes were bugged out. "Mike? oh my god... _no_!" the man cried. The man had noticeable black lines under his eyes, much like Mike had had earlier.

 _What happened?_ Zoey wondered.

 **Cliffhanger!**

 **So yeah, this got dark fairly quickly. Review, and see you next time for part two of this part.**


	7. The Hospital

**A/N: next chapter!**

 **I want to wrap this up soon.**

 **Th** **ank you to Gucci Mane LaFlare for reviewing the last chapter :)**

 **Enjoy!**

Zoey had passed out again at some point before the ambulance arrived. They took both her and Mike to the hospital.

When she woke up she was in a bed. Her ankle had been wrapped up in a cast and her arms had been bandaged as well as part of her face.

She glanced at the bed next to her and flinched, causing her to wince. Mike looked absolutely terrible. His face was bandaged and said bandages were stained red, he had an IV inserted into his bandaged arms as well as some other machines helping with his breathing, his legs and torso were covered by a blanket so Zoey had no clue if he was hurt there or not. He appeared to be asleep, or maybe unconscious. He was mumbling things.

Soon three people came in: a doctor, the driver of the car, and Zoey's mother. Mike's mother was still crying out in the waiting room.

Zoey's mom rushed over to her daughter's bed and kneeled in front of it. "Zoey, I'm so sorry..." She hugged her.

Zoey winced but returned the hug, sniffling. "It's not your fault, Mom."

"I never should have let you play with that boy."

"...but he saved me."

Meanwhile, the driver was on his knees at seeing the state Mike was in. He was repeating his apology over and over again, tears in his eyes.

 _Uh oh, it's your old man, yo._

 _Hey! I resent that, ya whippersnapper. But I agree, he's trouble._

 _Guys, he's sorry! He's actually sober right now, I think._

 _We don't know that, mate. And you're the one he always went after..._

 _I thought I'd dealt with him already...guess I need to finish the job._

 _Don't. Mike is really hurt because of you, dingo. Physically._

 _I feel fine._

 _You won't when you wake up, mate._

 _Let me take control when he wakes up._

 _No._

Mike was muttering it all and his voice changed each time someone new talked as they went back and forth arguing.

The driver flinched every time he heard Mal's voice. "That little bastard..." he growled.

Zoey's mom looked concerned as she observed Mike's father from the other end of the room.

Mike's mother eventually came in and ordered her estranged husband to leave the room. He did so, sending her a look before walking out. He still peeked in through the window on the door. The doctor closed the blinds on said door.

The doctor then checked up on all the monitors attached to and surrounding Mike. He took down some notes.

Mike stirred and his eyes slowly opened. Said eyes were lined with black. "Damn, Manitoba wasn't kidding..." Mal winced as he muttered this in his gravelly voice.

"Mal, where's Mike?" their mom asked quietly.

"Not important," Mal replied. "Ugh, this hurts..." The painkillers had worn off.

Mike's mom held his hand comfortingly.

Zoey was staring at Mike's mother talking to Mal like he was a human being with feelings.

Mal looked over at Zoey. He raised an amused eyebrow at her. "Would you please leave me and Zoey here alone for a moment?" he asked the two mothers.

Zoey's mother was taken aback and was going to protest but Mike's mother just sighed and nodded. "It's better to do what he says," she told Zoey's mother.

"But-"

"Come, let's talk out in the lobby..."

Zoey's mother looked at her daughter once more, sighed, and appeared apologetic as she left the room behind Mike's mother.

Zoey gulped and turned to look at Mal.

"Be damn grateful," he said to Zoey.

"Wh-what? Why? Y-you got us here!" Zoey asked, her fists clenched.

"Be grateful for what Mike did, stupid." Mal rolled his eyes.

"Oh..."

"Yeah, he could've died, and the rest of us with him. That's on you, Red."

"...rest of us?" Zoey was clearly confused.

 _Don't tell her!_

"Okay, geez..." Mal muttered in reply.

"Did you say something?" Zoey asked, hearing him.

"Nope, didn't say a word," Mal lied.

Zoey narrowed his eyes. "...let me talk to Mike."

"No."

Zoey looked away. She felt tears in her eyes as her own meds began wearing off. She sniffled and started crying, her eyes shutting.

 **Please review, cya next time :)**


	8. Moving Day

**A/N: sorry this took so long :P**

 **Thank you to Michael Cipher and Kittalia Phantom for reviewing :)**

 **This should wrap up in the next chapter *crosses fingers***

 **Enjoy!**

Zoey was in the hospital for a few days. She got to leave afterwards, and wasn't allowed out of the house for a few weeks following. Her mother refused to let her near Mike again, either, when he was released.

Roughly two months after the whole ordeal, Mike's mother knocked on their door and Zoey's mother answered reluctantly. A moving truck was parked across the street. Zoey was on the living room floor, focused on her reading so she only moved her attention towards the door when she heard Mike's mom say, "...it would mean a lot to Mike if Zoey came over to say goodbye, at least."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Zoey's mom said.

"It's been two months. He's better, I promise."

Zoey got off the floor with her book. As much as she was wary and somewhat afraid of Mike's characters, she did want to say goodbye to him before he left.

Zoey's mother glanced at her daughter. "Can I, Mom?" Zoey asked.

Zoey's mom bit her lip. "...alright. But don't be gone for too long." She looked at Mike's mom. "Please watch them when they're together."

Mike's mom nodded, promising she would. "Come on, Zoey." She headed out the door.

Zoey quickly left her book on a table, put her shoes on, and went out to follow Mike's mom. She felt nervous outside, admittedly, because she hadn't been out very often and she'd developed a fear of crossing the road. Mike's mother made sure to help her across and assure herit would be okay.

Zoey hadn't ever been inside Mike's house, really. Right now it was full of boxes. The walls were bare and painted a nice green. "Mike is in his room right now," his mom told Zoey, pointing towards a blue door down a hallway before walking towards it. Zoey followed, somewhat nervous.

Mike's mom knocked. "...come in," Mike responded quietly. His mom opened the door.

The room was pretty empty currently. The walls were bright blue and white. The bed was stripped down to the mattress.

Mike was sat on the edge of said mattress, appearing to be hugging a stuffed toy that appeared to be a koala. He wore a simple black long sleeve shirt and blue pants. He had a few fading scars on his face and hands he was trying to hide with his hair, his sleeves and the bear. His feet were covered by socks and maybe a cast or brace, it was hard to tell. His wrist had a brace on it that was covered by his shirt. There was a set of small crutches leaned up against the bed.

He looked sad and as if he hadn't slept in a while, his eyes towards the ground.

"...hi Mike," Zoey greeted him from the doorway.

Mike looked up and over at Zoey. "...hi," he replied, his voice still pretty quiet. It was definitely his voice, though.

Zoey carefully entered the room and walked up to the bed. Mike's mom watched from the door. Zoey glanced at the plush koala in Mike's arms. "That's a cute toy," she remarked, stopping a few feet from the bed.

Mike tightened his arms around the koala. "Thanks...it appeared one time out of nowhere," he replied in a near whisper.

"...your mom said you're moving away," Zoey said after some silence.

"...yeah..." Mike replied with a small sigh, looking down again.

"I'll miss you," Zoey admitted.

Mike nodded slightly. His mouth trembled slightly, like he might cry.

Zoey tilted her head, then got up and sat next to Mike. She dangled her feet off the edge of the bed. "Maybe you can come back and visit sometime?" she asked,

Mike slowly shook his head. "...Mom said we're moving t-to the other side of the country..."

"Oh..."

"...you wouldn't want to be near me anyway..." Mike said with a sniffle.

"Why not?"

"Y-you know why... I'm a weirdo." He buried his face in his koala. "A freak. And I hurt you."

"No you're not, and you...didn't," Zoey replied, slightly confused as to why he said that about himself. She hesitated at the end because she wasn't sure if Mal was Mike still.

Mike didn't respond. He sniffled again and blinked a few tears out.

"I think your mom is about ready to come over and get you, Zoey..." Mike's mom said after looking out the window in the room.

Zoey nodded slightly at her, then quickly gave Mike a gentle hug and whispered something in his ear before she got off the bed. Mike looked up slightly and watched her go with watery eyes.

 **Please review if you feel so compelled. See y'all next time :)**


	9. Still Moving Day

**A/N: After much writing and rewriting here's the next very short little chapter. I hope to end this story soon. I'm glad people are liking it.**

 **Thank you to Kittalia Phantom, Gucci Mane LaFlare, Pink Ninjaa and the guest for reviewing the last chapter :)**

 **Enjoy!**

After her mom had brought her back inside, Zoey looked out a window of her house and watched as Mike, on his crutches and aided by his mother, walked through their front door and headed for the car. It was obvious he was not happy and appeared to be talking to his mom. Whatever he was saying, Zoey had no idea.

Mike then looked towards her window as his mom took the crutches to put in the trunk. He was leaning on the side of the car, a defeated and sad look on his face. Zoey looked back at him and waved goodbye. He weakly waved back. She found herself getting a little emotional and had trouble determining why. Mike was helped into the car and he, his mother, and the moving van were soon gone.

That was when Zoey felt the need to wipe her eyes and sniffle. She really would miss him.

She looked at her mother. "Mom, can I visit Mike at his new house sometime?" she asked with a small amount of hope. Her voice was quiet and fragile.

Her mom glanced to the side. "Um...we'll see," was all she said. She didn't want to tell her no straight up but also wanted to make no guarantees; she didn't really like the thought of Zoey hanging out with Mike again and it was a long way to go anyways.

Zoey looked out the window again and wiped her eyes another time. Her mom offered her a hug and she accepted it, slowly starting to cry.

 **I don't know how exactly I want to end this, please review with any suggestions and/or feedback you might have. Thanks for reading :)**


	10. Huh, They're In High School Now

**A/N: hey, look, I finally updated! Chapter 10! Woo!**

 **Yeah, decided on a timelapse as was suggested by PinkNinjaa, and still not sure about how to end this. This opens up for at least a chapter or two more, probably. Updates will be shaky again once I go back to school on Monday.**

 **Also, first time in a while I've uploaded two things in one day so that's cool, right?**

 **Enjoy!**

After all the tears had dried and there were none left to cry, Zoey moved on with her life. She and her family stayed in that town, in the same house, and she grew up. By the time she was in high school she'd become an intelligent and highly skilled young woman with prospects of attending a university and studying fashion design. She just had to get through her senior year and it would all fall into place for her.

She got up that first day feeling confident. She dressed in a red top she'd made herself -it had remained her go to color all those years- and dark green pants. She tied her hair back and made her makeup simple but impactful.

She headed out the door after her mother kissed her goodbye; she'd be driving to school. She was extremely careful about checking that there was no one in the road when she traversed it in her car. The memory of the accident had never left her fully, though details had slipped her mind as she'd aged.

Upon parking and heading up the steps she could feel a different air as she passed by classmates she'd known for years. Must've been shared nerves or something.

She headed to first period not thinking too much about things. She said hi to a couple of people she knew as friends and found a seat in the middle of the room. The volume in the room grew louder as each desk was filled with another student, until all but one was taken. The bell rang and the teacher got up from her desk. "Alright, folks, welcome back to school. Some of you had me last year so you know the drill. I'm gonna take attendance and try to learn new people's names so that this doesn't get too awkward." She started calling out names and the person whose name it was proclaimed their presence. Zoey waited patiently for hers to be called.

When a name Zoey recognized from long ago came up she looked around, but no one claimed it. "New kid must've gotten lost..." the teacher muttered as she made a mark over paper. She continued to call names until all the students in the room had been accounted for. "Great, let's get this party started," the teacher said before giving instructions and beginning to go over basic things for the year.

Fifteen minutes into class the door opened and a guy in a suit poked his head in. The teacher looked at him and the guy said some quick things that Zoey couldn't really comprehend. Then the guy was gone and five minutes later someone else entered the room. All eyes went on the guy as the teacher asked, "You're Mike?"

The guy looked at the teacher with one eye and nodded silently. His hair, dark, long, and straight. covered the other. His skin was tan and yet seemed washed out, and he wore a dark blue hoody over a black t-shirt and blue jeans. He was quite tall and thin, but had a slight slouch. He seemed tired.

"I know you're new here so I'll cut you some slack for today. Take that seat in the back. We were just going over the syllabus," the teacher continued.

Mike looked towards the back and nodded again, making his way through the aisles of chairs. At one point he passed Zoey, who was looking at him in slight shock for unknown to her reasons. He took his seat and everyone who's been looking at him put their attention back on the teacher, except for Zoey who was still looking.

The class lasted a little while longer before the bell rang indicating that class was over. Zoey grabbed her bag and headed for the front like the rest of the class.

Another period went by, and another, and another. Lunch time rolled around eventually and Zoey found her friends at their table from the year before. She sat down and the group chatted with each other about how their summer had gone.

When Zoey went to put away her tray she accidentally bumped into Mike, who'd been doing the same but at a much quicker pace. Mike ended up dropping and then catching his tray in a strangely graceful manner. The two looked at each other for a moment and it was Zoey who spoke first. "Sorry, I'm clumsy sometimes," she apologized.

"...don't worry about it," Mike replied, his voice quiet. He put the tray down and started to walk away.

Zoey put her tray down as well, but instead of rejoining her friends she chose to follow him. "I'm Zoey, if you were wondering," she said.

"I know who you are," Mike replied, pushing the cafeteria doors open.

Weird response, but ok. "Oh, you do?" Zoey asked.

Mike nodded silently as he exited the room.

Zoey decided to follow, to find out more.

"We were neighbors," Mike finally replied in the hallway, far from other people.

"...I knew you seemed familiar!" Zoey said. "You moved away, after the, um..." She didn't want to bring it up.

"The incident," Mike finished her sentence for her. His expression was unreadable.

"Yeah, that..." Zoey glanced to the side awkwardly. "I wanted to visit but my mom wouldn't let me, and then I forgot about it..." she admitted.

"Well, I just moved back here with my mom...different neighborhood, but closer to her work," Mike explained.

Zoey nodded in understanding. "Um, how's your, um, your... dad...?" she asked, out of curiosity.

Mike looked at her a bit more intently. "He's in jail," he said curtly. "Has been for a while."

"Oh..."

"Yeah."

Awkward silence. The bell rang indicating the end of lunch, and more people were heading their way.

"I'll, uh, I'll catch up with you again later...if you want to," Zoey said.

Mike just nodded and headed off, probably to his next class.

Feeling weird and nervous for no good reason Zoey took off to her own class, wanting to process that interaction while she listened to another teacher drone on about the syllabus.

 **Finally, a chapter that doesn't end in crying.**

 **Putting review thanks down here, going out to PinkNinjaa and Gucci Mane LaFlare :)**

 **Thanks for reading, see ya whenever the next chapter comes out :P**


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